HIGHER EDUCATION

Students' union polls to be held on Oct 17 in Haryana

The Haryana government has decided to hold students' union elections in state colleges and universities on October 17.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar directed officials concerned to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of the polls. The elections in the state are being held after a gap of 22 years. However, this year the government has decided to hold indirect polls to students' unions in Haryana. Through the indirect polls, class representatives (CRs) will be elected in colleges and department representatives (DRs) in universities, according to an official statement issued here.

The CRs and DRs will further elect the president and other office bearers in the colleges and universities. Notably, the students' union polls were banned in 1996 by the then chief minister Bansi Lal following incidents of violence.

"After a long period of 22 years, the present government has taken initiative to conduct the students' union elections in the state. No other previous government ever considered about conducting the elections of the students' unions," Khattar said. Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma said the primary task of the district administration and the police would be to ensure that the elections are held peacefully.

Meanwhile, various students' organisations in the state, including the NSUI, INSO and others, are against the state government's move to hold indirect polls. The elections will held in all the 293 colleges affiliated to all the state universities and about 4.50 lakh students are likely to participate in the polls, the statement said.

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